British BBQ Society Forums

Hi guys, had my frontier a few weeks now, been getting great results with baby back ribs but its a constant battle to keep the heat up.

I get the heat upto 250f then when i put the meat on its drops and today its stuck at 212f and wont go any higher.

What is the best briquettes to use and how can i get the heat back up once putting the meat on.

Links to briks and wood would be nice, thanks guys.

I had a similar problem with my Excel, which was down to my garden. The position of the back garden in relation to the other houses meant the draft was inconsistent, the only way I solved this was to use a forced air system. In my case an IQ110, but there are others that would work equally well.
try positioning the smoker in different areas of your garden to try and get a consistent breeze.

Briquettes won't burn as hot as lumpwood does. Try here http://www.liverpoolwoodpellets.co.uk/ their lumpwood and restaurant grade stuff is great

Keith is correct about position and air circulation, unfortunately many of us have no choice on that, Dave is also correct on the fuel, although I use heat beads, you need a good fuel. I don't know whether you use water in the bowl or favour other methods, I use a clay saucer. Your temp drop could be any or all of these things, frustrating , but if you try dealing with them individually you should be successfull. Good cooking.

what thermometer are you using to get the temperature of the pit? If you're using the one in the lid, you'll probably find that it's actually sitting at 250f as they're normally wrong.

How are you starting your fire in the Frontier??? are you using the minion method?

Are you using water or clay saucer/sand in the water pan?

Swindon_Ed wrote:what thermometer are you using to get the temperature of the pit? If you're using the one in the lid, you'll probably find that it's actually sitting at 250f as they're normally wrong.

How are you starting your fire in the Frontier??? are you using the minion method?

Are you using water or clay saucer/sand in the water pan?

Hi, im using my maverik thermometer in the pit so its pretty accurate. I use the water in the pan that came with the frontier. I start the coal by just using firelighter and then wait till the coal is grey.

How is best to do it, light the coals, put the water in and the bbq together then wait for it to come up to temp then add smoke and meat, my probem is when i add the meat i loose loads of heat and i cant get it back up to temp for a while.

AndyLowNSlow wrote: im using my maverik thermometer in the pit so its pretty accurate.

I just had to check to make sure i give you the correct advice.

AndyLowNSlow wrote:I use the water in the pan that came with the frontier

With bullet smokers i've always used a clay saucer wrapped in foil as i found water made the smokers hard to get up to temp' and also took ages to get back up to temp' when the lid has been off. The clay saucer makes it more stable and will allow you to get up to higher temp's easier.

AndyLowNSlow wrote:How is best to do it, light the coals,

Lay a bed of charcoal in the fire basket and then light half a chimney starter of charcoal and once lit, pour into the centre of the fire basket.

Hey guys,

Interesting, ive always had the opposite problem in my WSM, too much heat.

Ive recently started not using any water unless it gets too hot. Just an empty foiled drip pan, if the temp starts rocketing a bit of water and close some more vents and it comes down. Ive noticed this uses a lot less coal.

Ed - where do you put the saucer in your WSM? In the water pan or do you use it instead of a water pan?

Cheers

Bryn

NomNomBBQ wrote:Hey guys,

Interesting, ive always had the opposite problem in my WSM, too much heat.

Ive recently started not using any water unless it gets too hot. Just an empty foiled drip pan, if the temp starts rocketing a bit of water and close some more vents and it comes down. Ive noticed this uses a lot less coal.

Ed - where do you put the saucer in your WSM? In the water pan or do you use it instead of a water pan?

Cheers

Bryn

The WSM is a different beast Bryn, i put the clay saucer in the water pan (although it's more like a clay flower pot because of Weber's new curved water pan). When setting up the fire i'll fill up the fired basket but leave an empty space on the edge in front of one of the air inlets and then pour your hot coals in this space.

Swindon_Ed wrote: The WSM is a different beast Bryn, i put the clay saucer in the water pan (although it's more like a clay flower pot because of Weber's new curved water pan). When setting up the fire i'll fill up the fired basket but leave an empty space on the edge in front of one of the air inlets and then pour your hot coals in this space.

Cheers Ed, very interesting - so if im reading that right you create a void in one corner of the wsm charcoal holder near a vent and then dump a whole lit starter of coals in that space, then do you just use the vent nearest the fire to control it?

Do you use the other vents? Doesnt this give you more heat from one side where the food is cooking?

Ive always just done everything in the center - create a void and then add lit coals. Fiddle with all 3 to adjust temp.

Good to hear about how other people do things